Orlando

Virginia Woolf's Orlando isn't the sort of book I usually mention on this blog, but a recent rereading of it made me think it worth a plug here.

For any who don't already know, Orlando is a bit of weird tale, a time- and gender-bender (not genre-bender, but gender-bender).  It is fun how the novel plays with the question of time and the development of humankind and culture in a survey of several centuries.  At the heart of it is the development of gender issues, and I like the way the story offers a playful treatment of what is (not only in real life, but in the text's treatment) deadly serious.

And of course, it's Virginia Woolf.  What other recommendation does one need?



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Source Code

A friend recommended Source Code to me several weeks ago, saying she thought I'd like the concept, even if the movie were not 100% my thing.  As it turns out, I enjoyed it very much.  I like the concept, and I like the storyline too.

I don't want to say too much because I hate coming across spoilers of shows I haven't seen yet.  But I can say that if you like movies that explore the nature of time and the human mind and how the mind experiences time, then you'll probably enjoy Source Code as much as I did.



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Player Piano

Player Piano is not my favorite of Vonnegut's works, but that's not to say I don't like it.  Though it was written early in his career, and is somewhat dated in the world it presents, still the themes and concerns examined in the story are real and meaningful today.

Player Piano examines the idea of how the problem of the divide between the "haves and have nots" may be heightened in a knowledge-based society.  It looks at the mechanical (and therefore meaningless?) nature of a life lived out in such a society.  What we find there is pretty sobering.

Though the story is not as enjoyable, for me, as much of Vonnegut's writing, it is still worth reading and thinking about.  I find it has stuck in my mind since I read it, with that sort of haunting act that is the sure sign of a good book.


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